What are you reading Thread

It was me! It does get a bit better, but it annoyed me a lot.

Did you like Lost at Sea, Seconds and Scott Pilgrim then here comes


Just read Volume 1 which contains issues 1-5 of Snotgirl who is a fashion blogger in LA who has allergies. If you've have read any of O'Malley's work then you'll know his writing style and how he's a little different.

I think due to this being a comic-book that it could be his best work but depends on how long it goes on for, will it out life its welcome? It was a fun read for an hour or so.

That is an intriguing premise indeed. Anything that subverts traditional beauty standards gets an intrigued nod from me.

Drunkalilly wrote:

It was me! It does get a bit better, but it annoyed me a lot.

It did, it's true. Oddly, I found the bits where he was going into detail about the games/films/nerdalia some of the least appealing. When he was dealing with more traditional story beats, it got quite good. Still don't like Wade, but he's only 18 or so, there's time for him to grow up still.

Balladeer wrote:

Oddly, I found the bits where he was going into detail about the games/films/nerdalia some of the least appealing.

I was the same! Nothing odd about it, it was very obvious pandering. No subtlety or art to it, just a copied and pasted list of "things what nerds like".

masofdas wrote:

Seconds

Seconds is incredible. Really cute art, heart-warming story and believably written as well. There's something about O'Malley's writing that feels grounded despite dealing with mental concepts like video-game style boss fights for overcoming your girlfriend's exes or eating a mushroom to redo part of your life.

Exactly, so when I saw someone tweet about Snotgirl, I knew I had to get it and isn't it nice not knowing something is a thing and just be able to get it.  Now with gaming everyone knows everything right away same with Movies and so on but as I'm not really keeping up with books it was pleasant surprise.

Finished Heir of Novron this morning. Whew, what a finish. Whenever I get the final book in a series I always get a little nervous. What if it doesn't stick the landing? What if the ending is bad, or terrible? What if all that time and energy came to nothing?

Happily Heir of Novron stuck the landing perfectly. There were surprises, there were genuine moments I feared for the main cast of characters, and the ending ended things fittingly yet with a world built well enough that a sequel could come in any form and feel natural.

I skipped posting my thoughts on the fifth book in the series because despite it ending amazingly (and it was indeed absolutely amazing, those last 40 or so pages of Wintertide could give Sanderson a run for his money in jaw-dropping twists and exciting turns) I felt it ran into the sixth and final story Percepliquis so well that I wanted to post my thoughts of the ending in its entirety instead. Besides what exactly could I say about Wintertide? Those who aren't reading the series won't care and those that either are reading it or considering doing so won't want those spoilers.


Overall the Riyria Revelations was a blast. Each of the six stories upped the anti, upped the quality, and upped my love for the world and its characters. The things that made the first book so good, the swashbuckling adventures, the likeable characters, and the overall sense of enjoyment just kept increasing. I'm not going to go on much longer, instead I'm going to mirror the ending of my review for the first book Theft of Swords, the series is an easy recommend for anybody looking for some fun takes on a classic fantasy setting and the misadventures of a mercenary/thief duo who find themselves unlikely heroes. Also strong female characters, always something worth bringing up when they crop up, and this series has a few of them.

I'm reading Blue Monday by Nicci French. It's a crime thriller that's about kidnapped children and is particularly unsettling. So, the perfect holiday read!

I do have American Gods by That There Neil Gaiman for afterwards, so... all good.

ZeroJones wrote:

I do have American Gods by That There Neil Gaiman for afterwards, so... all good.

My mum's currently reading that, and I've bagsied her copy for when I'm done! As for myself, I'm making my way through Elantris, which hooked me pretty quickly.

Yep, Elantris does that sort of thing. Very rich world and fascinating main cast in that one, easily in the top three of four Cosmere books imo.

I just finished reading Elantris. Unsurprisingly, as the novel that launched the unstoppable force that is Brandon Sanderson, it was really bloody good. I don't think the magic and mythology was quite as clever and interesting as Mistborn's, nor the characters as compelling (I definitely didn't like Hrathen as much as Athrun seems to). I did enjoy the romance subplot here immensely, though. The whole dramatic irony worked amazingly well, and as a love story it was very novel.

Athrun888 wrote:

Yep, Elantris does that sort of thing.

You can say that again: I read most of the 500-odd pages today and yesterday, between bouts of ARMS.

Athrun888 wrote:

I love the way he's left things open for a sequel too, the conclusion was strong and yet he resisted the temptation to wrap up everything instead allowing room for a sequel should one ever be written (which, thankfully, it will).

Will it? Genuine question, I'm intrigued to know if a true sequel is coming (as well as, presumably, an eventual linking of the Dor to other Cosmere powers) but I'm loathe to look into it and accidentally find a spoiler to one of the books I've not read yet.

Wow, that's fast!  I know that feeling all too well though, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't pulled a binge like that once or twice either.  And yep, sequels to both Elantris and Warbreaker have been confirmed by Sanderson in his yearly progress blog last december to be projects to look out for once his current set of projects are finished, the rough schedule is 2020 for Elantris "2".  

If you want to know about the underlying things regarding the Dor and its connections without spoiling other Cosmere books much I'll sum it up the best I can, and keep any "spoilers" strictly to Elantris, Ars Arcanum information, and my suspicions.

Spoilers for Elantris and Mistborn Trilogy:

One more book left before we see the last of Wax and Wayne, it's going to be mighty sad to wave farewell to them when the final book releases.  

I've long held the belief that the "Mistborn 2" era, aka the Wax and Wayne series, has been Sanderson having a bunch of fun in the world he created in the Mistborn trilogy, and having finished The Bands of Mourning I stand by that belief, even with some of the more dramatic events that transpired at the end of Shadows of Self and the large-scale Cosmere events starting to make their blatant appearance (I'll post my thoughts on those tantalising things in the spoiler block, suffice to say this series has absolutely become an important bridge for future Cosmere and Mistborn novels).  First we got a western-mystery adventure, then we got an action thriller, and now we got an Indiana-Jones-esque adventure, needless to say I can't wait to see what we get in book 4.  

Just like the previous two books Bands of Mourning was a great rollicking adventure filled with mystery and tons of action, we see yet more uses for the various magics of Scadrial as they continue to be combined in strange yet brilliant ways (I love how we've gone from full-blown Allomancy users and Feruchemical users to Twinborns who have one power from each, the combinations that get shown off are inventive as all get-out), and the main cast continues to be an absolute blast with an excellent mix of quip-y humour and excellent characterisation.  

As for the aforementioned Cosmere things, having caught up I have to put some of my theories regarding Scadrial and its looming threats to e-paper.

MAJOR Spoilers for The Cosmere and moderate ones for Bands of Mourning/The Original Trilogy:

Also holy s*** that last reveal!  AARGH, so many questions!  Well, now I simply have even more of a reason to get Arcanum Unbounded!  Since, you know, it being a pile of awesome sounding shortstories and a Novella centered on Lift totally hadn't already sold me.  

Alsoalso the **** ******* remind me of Iyatil in Words of Radiance.  Connection?  Maybe, definitely going to be paying strict attention when I reread that part of the book in a couple of months.

T-T-T-TRIPLE POST



Anyhow finished another book, returning to the world of Pern with Red Star Rising: More Chronicles of Pern.  The only novel in the series to be set during (or rather just before) the second pass.  I'll be blunt here, if you've read any Pern novel before you've read this one.  You've got the rebellious Lord Holder that doesn't believe in Thread who risks his entire hold when Thread inevitably turns up, you've got your obligatory slightly dysfunctional romance, you've got your obligatory council meetings and dragon hatchings, and you've got your obligatory optimistic ending.  In short it's a by-the-numbers Pern novel that doesn't really add anything of note besides its few overt mentions of the up-until-now-only-hinted-at homosexual relationships of green male dragonriders and answering a few questions that, to be completely blunt, I never really had nor needed answering (such as why education is done through song, something answered in exactly the way you could predict).  


So yeah, fairly forgettable and missable instalment, although nothing offensive or anything.

The last book I finished was a Star Trek novel. I can't even remember what it was called now, but it was pretty good. A baddy who defected to the Klingons had hacked the Enterprise and was interfering with their attempts to negotiate peace between a planet and its colony.

The Emperors Soul.  Absolutely fantastic short story that shows Sanderson doesn't need 500+ pages to create a compelling cast of characters with real depth, a crazy inventive magic system, and a story that has me absolutely hooked.  Little surprise that I downed the whole 100 or so pages in one sitting, absolutely fascinating little yarn and I really hope we see more of this part of Sel when we return to Elantris.


Mistborn: Secret History "There's always another secret."

One of the big draws for Arcanum Unbounded was this novella, an expansion for both the original Mistborn trilogy as well as the Cosmere entirely. There were feels, there was action, and yes, there were secrets both revealed and tantalisingly dangled in front of our faces.

Spoilers, although this was obvious from the title "Secret History":

I would say more but it's not like anyone else round here has read enough to get into a discussion so I'll just leave things off with my usual "just f***ing read this series already!!!" response and move on.

Arcanum Unbounded is done, and with it my current Cosmere material until Oathbringer this November (bring.  It.  On!)  In contrast to the rest of the Cosmere books, all of which are fantasy epics of various varieties, Arcanum Unbounded was a short story collection also featuring a couple of novella's.  It's also proof that Sanderson doesn't need four hundred pages to create a cast of compelling characters, a unique and fascinating magic system, a vibrant world, and a engaging story.  No, turns out he can do it in seventy to a hundred of them.  

It's a bit of an odd collection, some of it would serve as an excellent introduction to a new reader to Sandersons works (Emperors Soul for example), while some of it is as entrenched in Cosmere backstory that it basically requires reading previous material (Mistborn Secret History and Edgedancer I'm talking about you two!)  

Ultimately I loved it.  The stories themselves were largely satisfying, and the pre-story essays from in-universe character Khriss regarding each of the currently known systems in the Cosmere was both enlightening and yet also tantilizing in how much they highlighted we have yet to learn regarding, well, anything really (the afterwords by Sanderson himself were great as well, it's always cool when an author sheds a bit of light on their creative process.)

The same can be said for a lot of things, including the Cognitive Realm which appeared in a major way for the first time in Mistborn: Secret History.  Up until now we've only seen glimpses of the Cognitive Realm, both when Shallan and Jasnah Soulcast in the Stormlight Archive and also during a couple of spoilerific scenes in both the Mistborn Trilogy and the Wax and Wayne series.  


I've already mentioned The Emperors Soul in my previous post as well as Secret History, so this time I'll focus on the other highlights which include Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell and the Stormlight Archive novella Edgedancer as well as short-story Sixth of Dusk.  

The first of those was a seventy-odd page story about Silence, owner of a waystop in the Forests of Hell.  This one was more on the creepy side of things, taking place in a forest filled with Shades.  Not normal shades mind you, these are strange beings.  Make a wrong move and they'll make you pay, if you start a fire, run at night, or shed any blood (or are unfortunate to be around it) you aren't going to live through the experience (especially that last one).  Being a short story there's much of the world we still don't know, but what little we are witness to sounds fascinating, if extremely creepy, and I look forward to hopefully seeing a return to this world some day.

Next up was the shorter story Sixth of Dusk.  Again this one was more on the creepy side of things, taking place on a deadly tropical island where Dusk, a Trapper who lives there has to save it from a mysterious force.  Not much in the way of magic on display here, though what was on display was pretty darn creepy as Dusk's ability was to see his own dead body as a warning of danger, sometimes obvious and sometimes not so obvious.  There aren't any plans for future stories on this world apparently, but if we ever get one I'd be well up for it.

Finally the book was rounded out with what many would consider either the main or second-main attraction: Edgedancer.  Lift was introduced back in Words of Radiance in an interlude chapter that might as well have been a short-story in its own right (and a damn fun one at that!), this time the spunky wandering food obsessed street urchin finds herself on the tail of an enemy she dubbed "Darkness" that has been killing proto-Knights Radiant before they can fully awaken to their powers whose last target had been none other than herself.  

I'd been looking forward to this one ever since I'd heard it announced, Lift in her short showcase in Words of Radiance was a hilarious and fun character that had left me hankering to see more of her.  Between her oft-crass attitude and food obsessed mind the way she sees the world around her is always good for a laugh, in a series that takes itself fairly seriously she's a great blast of unique fresh air and just a plain enjoyable character to read the escapades of, and the banter between her and her Spren Wyndle is always hilarious (the pairings of Spren and humans are always great in this series).  

I could go on and on about this one, but I won't as I'll just devolve into fanboying about Lift and the misadventures she keeps having none of which will make any sense as I believe I'm the only person on here as of yet to read Stormlight Archive.  It was great to have another dose of Stormlight ahead of Oathbringer, and the story is a must-read for anyone following series.  


And so with that a large chunk of my reading backlog has been cleared.  After what feels like two years I've run through all of the presently published Cosmere novels and must now look to other things to read.  Up next is the final Dragonriders of Pern novel written by Anne McCaffrey before her passing as well as the last one in the timeline, The Skies of Pern.

Finished The Skies of Pern over the weekend. While a bit bittersweet due to being the end of the end, the last published novel by McCaffrey, and also the last novel to take place in the time period most of the series was set in, it was a satisfying read as someone invested in the world and cast. Despite the few small things left open (namely Toric who has basically evolved from antagonist to full-fledged villain, the direction of his ultimate fate was however made clear) the book essentially wrapped things up, plenty of answers as to how things will evolve in a post-Thread threatened Pern and so on.


With that I'm left wondering what book I shall take with me on my short holiday in a few days. My attention will be elsewhere so bringing a new fantasy epic is out of the question, and while I am reading Uprooted I suspect I'll prefer to keep that for my at-home reading. Either Wee Free Men or a re-read of something light is likely on the cards.

Wee Free Men is an excellent choice.

I started The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith on Saturday and finished it this morning. A very acceptable book; so much so, I've now started Career Of Evil, the next book in the series, that my brother got me for Christmas. I've thoroughly enjoyed the nineteen pages I've read so far.

All three Galbraith novels are great. I reckon the second was probably the best as a pure detective novel but the character drama is quality throughout.

If you follow Zero Punctuation, you're probably aware that Yahtzee wrote a book called Mogworld. Having read it, I can confirm that it's as clever and funny and cynical as you'd expect of the man, and slightly less 'everything's crap'. (Although there is a fair bit of that, what with the MC being dead.) My top book thus far this year, heartily recommended.

Book 19 of the year (closing in on that 25 book target I am) Uprooted by Naomi Novrik. This was a bit of a dark horse, recently elsewhere I asked for recommendations of fantasy novels with three stipulations: no grimdark, good pacing, and prominent well-written female characters. This was one of the first books to pop up in the thread, and sufficiently piqued my interest to pick it up.

Uprooted was a departure of the novels that have comprised of most of my recent literary diet, being essentially a modern dark fairytale, emphasis on the word dark. Hearkening back to the good old days when fairytales had actual bite to them, the forces of evil were akin to something out of a nightmare, a malevolent entity known as the Woods corrupting all who set foot in their domain in the most terrifying of ways.


Overall it was a snappy standalone read that had me devouring it in ever-increasing portions from nearly the word go, well worth a look in for those who are interested in something a little different without the baggage of a giant series,

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novrik (published as Temeraire in England and Australia).  Napoleonic Era with f***ing dragons, what's not to like?


Despite the slim 340-odd pages I'll admit this one was a bit of a slower read, the book liked to be slow in its pacing and when you're still undecided whether you're into a book or not that can bloat reading times. On the flip side it made for perfect "winding down for sleep" material.

Still despite that once it got its claws into me it had them well and truly sunk in. Like a lot of dragonrider-centric novels it lives or dies by the relationship between the protagonist and their partner, and fortunately for His Majesty's Dragon the relationship between Laurence and his dragon Temeraire was easily one of the most enjoyable ones to read I've read. Equal amounts cute, awesome, and lovable to watch as the two become an inseparable pair of eventual awesomesauce.

The setting led to some interesting takes on Dragon warfare, rather than the usual dragon plus rider duo each dragon was of a size to allow a full crew, and seeing military tactics of a more grounded setting rather than the usual fantasy setting led to some truly enjoyable set-pieces and twists.

Overall another easy recommend, particularly for anybody after a good dragonrider yarn with a unique and fresh setting.


So, that's 20 books this year down the hatch, with plenty of them being hefty fantasy tomes. Maybe I should've set my read goal for 30 books instead of 25.

Currently reading Guards! Guards! from the Discworld series. Only fifty or so pages in so far, but I'm absolutely loving the scenes with the brotherhood.

The last two books I read were The Hydrogen Sonata, the last of Ian M Banks' Culture novels, and Crash Override by Zoe Quinn.

The Culture series is one I'd recommend to anybody here, at the very least The Player of Games and Use of Weapons. As the series goes on, the issues become less of the human soul and more of grand sci-fi concepts, while the key characters tend more towards robots and spaceship AIs. This was A OK in my book, but does make them a slightly harder sell I suppose.

Zoe's book is basically required reading, as far as I'm concerned. Tough stuff to read in places, but necessary.